The finale (the sequel): GM’s thoughts, coach’s assessment, the Havlat conundrum — and more

SAN JOSE — Too much still in the notebook from Thursday dispersal. Can’t let it go to waste, so here’s The Finale: Part II, This Time For Sure. Take a deep breath, this goes on awhile.

****Unlike a year ago, when the Sharks stumbled into the playoffs and were out after a franchise-fewest five games against St. Louis, the mood was more upbeat and promising, from the top down.

“I could not be prouder of what they did and how they came together as a team and meshed with the identity of what we were looking for,” Doug Wilson said. “There’s a moment in Game 3 that really epitomized that. You go down to 15 players we lose Hannan, Havlat and Couture and they just keep on playing for each other. That’s the thing we’ve been striving for.”

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Wilson heads off to the scouting combine in Toronto today. Does he think his team is in better shape than it was a year ago?

“If we use this properly, yes I do,” he said. “There’s something special about this group. And I already talked to a group of the guys individually. To go through the reset we did and have some key veteran players leave out of here is an indication of the good younger players that we have underneath, and the belief they have in their coach and how we need to play.”

I’ve told friends — and Wilson himself — that he interviews like a defenseman in that he holds his ground when you’re trying to move him off point. That was the case Thursday when the topic of his response to the Raffi Torres suspension and the fine that followed came up.

Did you expect the league to fine you for that statement?

“Next question (smiling).”

But that couldn’t have caught you by suprrise?

“Next question (still smiling).”

Do players understand that rule?

“Yes, they do. And we’ll leave it at that.”

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With the league taking past history into account, does that have an impact on you resigning him?

“Appreciate all of your effort in getting me to comment. I’ll comment going forward. We look at players that play the style we want to play, that can add to this team. Do I think Raffi can? Yes I do. The other stuff. I said what I said and I’ll leave that there.”

One more thing from the general manager. The NHL salary cap is dropping from $70.2 million to $64.3 million. According to capgeek.com, the Sharks are still $8.8 million under that figure for 2013-14. Wilson said there’s no need for him to be dumping any salary between now and the fall in order to be under the new cap.

“We’re really fortunate. This is where you say, you want to make this a place where players want to play,” Wilson said. “The players have helped us with how contracts have been structured, sometimes its terms, sometimes the dollars. We have a lot of flexibility going forward, we have a lot of flexibility in two years.

“We’ve been fortunate to have players that understand what we’re trying to accomplish,” he continued. “We’re not a team that’s going to miss the playoffs for five or seven years and go into a rebuild. We don’t believe in that. We want to reset on the fly and it only works when you have players that understand what it is we’re trying to accomplish and participate in it.”

The new collective bargaining agreement does allow for a compliance buyout. The Sharks have long imposed their own payroll rules — no contracts more than five years, no front-loaded deals under the old CBA. Wilson would not discuss the likelihood of a compliance buyout, but he did say there was no internal policy banning one.

****Here’s Todd McLellan’s assessment of where things stand and how the Sharks got there:

“I guess, first of all we have to clarify, we didn’t accomplish our goal. That’s a disappointment,” he said, “but on the journey to that goal, I thought we became a grittier, faster more supportive team. We played toward our identity and grew our team in that fashion. We saw the emergence of some young players come through. We saw the older players be able to adjust to that. We think that we have a foundation set to move forward with the retooling or refresh, whatever we want to call it, of our organization.”

How much did the Torres suspension hurt?

“It hurt us. There’s no doubt about it, but excuses aren’t going to make it any better,” McLellan said. “Pavelski in that third-line center role, Raffi and Marty, the ability if that was a line, that’s a heck of a third line. When we lose Raffi, when we lose Marty, we have to fill holes in, and we felt Pav would be the right guy up on that line with Cooch and Patty. So it hurt.

“But yet, with that being said, we had guys who elevated their play. Guys that didn’t factor into a lot of games during the season, the Bracken Kearns and even James Sheppard for that matter, played pretty strong playoffs for us.”

****The topic of Marty Havlat appears to be a somewhat sensitive one with the organization. Though a groin injury limited him to just two playoff games this season (3:16 in one before being hurt, 4:52 when he tried an apparently too soon comeback), the Sharks were quick to point out that he was healthy for 71 of 72 post-season games before this year. And in those games, he had 21 goals and 52 points.

During the playoffs, McLellan made an offhand reference or two to the problem created when a player says he’s ready, but turns out not to be. No one was named.

Thursday, McLellan was asked how much the team missed Havlat’s game?

“We don’t have somebody else like him. But we have Marty Havlat,” the coach said. “Marty was brought here to excel in these situations in the playoffs. Mother Nature didn’t allow it. His injuries prevented him from playing and from being effective.

“What needs to happen there for us to have the player he believes he can be — and we believe he can be — is to get healthy, to look at some of his training methods, maybe change a few things and then to come back and start all over.

“He’s a top six player on most teams. But you can’t play when you’re hurt. That’s the biggest issue facing him.”

So did he try to come back too soon?

“First of all we have the athlete, we have the doctors and we have the training staff that all get an opportunity to review his situation,” McLellan said. “Whether he came back too soon or not I don’t know. Obviously the results would indicate yes. . . . It’s hindsight.”

Later, McLellan was asked if he wanted to see Havlat back next season, noting that there’s talk he could be a candidate for a compliance buyout, with his contract calling for another two years with a $5 million cap hit on each.

“Me as an individual, I would love to see Marty come back and play like Marty can. That’s the best way I can answer that question,” McLellan said. “If he reaches his level of play that he’s capable of getting to, we’d all be talking about him in a different frame than we are right now.”

****Much of the player comment mirrored that of the GM and coach: Disappointment, for sure, but not the gloom and doom felt this time a year ago. They know changes will be made, but optimism was far more prevalent. We won’t get into all that here.

But I’ll sift through it and find a few tidbits worth passing along.

*Joe Pavelski was asked how long it would be before he could watch another hockey game.

How long take to watch another hockey game? Turns out the answer was not very.

“I turned on the game last night,” Pavelski said, referring to the Chicago’s OT win over Detroit. “Obviously another Game 7, and you’re following it, and it’s in overtime. It’s a situation you just we’re in one, it’s so hard to lose, but it’s still an exciting place to be and an opportunity, and we had a lot of fun with Game 7. You see the excitement in Chicago when they win and the ups and downs with the goal being disallowed and all that type of stuff. You’re still aware of it.”

*Adam Burish was asked if he had gotten over the team’s elimination yet.

“You’re over it. It sucks to watch teams move on. You’re almost kind of jealous that they’re still playing and you don’t get a chance to do it,” he said. “But you move on. There’s other things you can do to keep your mind occupied, but it sucks. There’s that sense of disappointment that you’re done playing. There’s some things for this group to be proud of, and we can kind of hang on that, I guess.”

So were there positives you could take from this season, Logan Couture was asked?

“I’m just proud of the guys in here. We’re a team,” he said. “People said we weren’t going to make the playoffs. I remember watching on the NHL Network. Four guys … said we’d miss the playoffs. I came in the next day and told every single guy in this room that people were saying we’re not going to be in the playoffs. I think that lit a fire under a lot of guys on this team.

“We had an up and down year, came together in the end, worked hard in the playoffs,” Couture said. “We deserved better. We didn’t deserve to lose to LA. I thought we were the better team. It definitely hurts.”

*Dan Boyle was ready for the inevitable inquiry about that window closing.

“Oh that window question,” he said. “Well it was supposed to have been closed pretty much this year and we looked pretty good down the stretch. I don’t think the window is closed. Missing Raffi and the Pavelski (switch to second line), that whole deal, I think that hurt us a little bit. Raffi was certainly missed in that series. I’m not sure what the future brings for him and a couple of other guys. I like our chances next year. I’m hoping to be part of it again.

“Contractually a lot of us have only one year left. Changes are made every summer. There’s no guarantees that we’re all coming back. Contractually some things are going to have to happen at the end of next season but I think that we look at the team was around for the last two months and be pretty proud and be positive about that team going forward.

“Obviously I’ve made it clear this is where I want to be and this is where I want to finish my career. I still think I have a lot of miles left in me. I’m not even close to that right now. We’ll see what happens. That’s up to management. I’ve made it clear that I want to be here.”

*Scott Gomez may have been non-committal about returning to the Sharks, but he said he wants to keep playing somewhere.

“Yeah, it’s not time to hang them up, that’s for sure. I kind of got my game back,” he said. “There’s plenty of time to see what happens in the summer.”

*TJ Galiardi is a restricted free agent who didn’t mask his hopes for next season.

“I want to be here. I’m not afraid to admit it at all,” said Galiardi, who is finishing up a one-year deal that paid him a pro-rated $950,000. “I’m restricted anyway, so I think chances are I’ll be here unless something crazy would happen.

“Ever since I’ve found that role and responsibility and trust of the coaches, I’ve had a lot of fun,” he said. “I think I’ve kind of found my place here and I don’t want to have to leave already.”

*Marc-Edouard Vlasic turned out to be the one player who didn’t differentiate between the playoff loss this year and the few years prior.

“It’s nothing different. Losing is losing,” he said. “We battled hard this year. . . . We battled hard to make the playoffs. We played extremely well against Vancouver, played well against LA but came up short.

“For me personally this isn’t any different from last year or the year before. We lost,” he said. “You’re not going to win every year, we know that. With the team we have in here and the players we have, we deserve a better outcome and hopefully we can win in the future. That’s what we want here in the locker room.”

We’ll end it on that note. Way too much to wade through already.

*****P.S. Thanks for the kind words after the last posting. Wasn’t fishing and tried to indicate that wasn’t the final word (for now). But the thanks and well-wishes are appreciated.

I know I’ve made it clear in the past that the lack of civility around here can be maddening at times. I also probably should make it clear that I know that only a few people are the ones aggravating the situation.
Thank you for that.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

Chicago should win this one. Just a matter of time, in my opinion.
We shall see.

dj

Speed kills and both teams have it, from corners to corners
I don’t see how the sharkies can be on the same ice with them

Alex

Well, the Bruins sure had their chances in OT.

Alex

Not sure how this game is still going, both teams had numerous glorious chances, especially Boston.

Alex

Makings of an epic SCF game?

Renoshark

Baghdad Bob @ 427:

Preach on brother! I thought you might respond with a well thought out post this time. A post that had a lot less of your typical deflection, spin and the usual gibbirish and name-calling you’ve reduced yourself to these days. Guess not. Carry on.

Renoshark

What a game. Not much Tuuka could do on that last goal. Crushing defeat for the Bruins.

Alex

The Bruins also lost Horton, we don’t know if he can play. That’s a huge blow. Boston missed on a great chance to steal one. Great game.

MLBSF

Beer League Rocks says:
June 12th, 2013 at 10:16 am

Everyone please ignore the nasty itch. Do not respond. Let him talk to himself.

=====

I check in after a couple of weeks and see nothing but huge and embarrassing meltdowns by the publicity department ordering posters what and what not to say and to whom.

What a disgrace.

smh

Well, there’s no way the Sharks could have competed against Chicago or Boston.

Doug Wilson has an incredible amount of work ahead this off-season to allow all of us to see the Sharks in the finals at least once in our lifetime.

But I’m not counting on it. Believe me.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Final tally:

Nr who think Bruins will win: 11
Nr who think Hawks will win: 7

Nr who want the Bruins to win: 12
Nr who want the Hawks to win: 6

There are abstentions in each category, including Zeke!

The “split ballots” were Sharkita, Ice, Alex, Johnny SJ & me.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Johnny SJ – hope you made it to the game and stayed for all of it. That was great. I only saw the OT, and still saw an entire game! B’s had their chances.

Hondr – yes, we attack you, I’ll admit it. But it’s not because we disagree with you. No, no, no. It’s because WE DON’T LIKE YOU! And we’re not sorry!
So there.

hondr

Yes, keep attacking, attack troll!

This site must be kept poisonous and attack filled!

Attack!

WI JP

Hell of game. Boston really had the better OT opportunities. Going to be a tough series.

Have a nice day. JP

(Hondr, keep on typing, Jack. How about breaking a record for longest unread post? It only takes a sec, to skip hundreds of words of drivel.Just a tap of the keys and your crap is history.)

Fasf97

Great game…….Hawks are a great team, and their young guys deliver, and even when you shut down their stars, they still are deeper than other teams.

hondr

That’s it! Attack!

Always stay on the attack, attack troll!

Fasf97

Bruins play basically the old Devils style game,no surprise since Julien coached there…… lots of icing, plenty of neutral zone trap, lots of shotblocking, and more emphasis on d, and wait for mistakes to bury one occasionally.

MLBSF

Also hondr,

You lost all credibility when you said the Red Wings have lost out on many stanley cups (plural) because it’s unfair they are forced to play games on the west coast because they are too sleepy.

smh

hondr

Bergeron is a beast in the FO circle, as well, another Devils trademark.

This is quite a contrast in styles. I don’t think Boston has quite the headroom to improve off this game, however, while Chicago has some uncontested giveaways they can clean up, and the PP and some too many men penalties. And Krug and that Ference guy didn’t get exploited as badly as they will be after Chicago locks in on them. Of course, Boston was locking in on Roszival and Leddy, but Roszival did get the game winner through.

hondr

…and the other hockey-challenged attack troll shows up. 😉

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Wait a minute … I know Detroit is falling apart, but don’t they have any wifi connections? Or are Wing fans too stupid to find their way to their own blog?

And then there’s the bandwagon baseball fan with nothing to do since the Giants’ pitching staff went south for the summer.

hondr

Attack, attack troll!

Alex

Looking at the speed and intensity of yesterday’s game I caught myself thinking that there is no way the Sharks could have hung with either of these 2 teams in a best of 7 series.

Alex

So let me clarify: making various little monkey, nasty rash, rash cream etc comments here is just as good as feeding the trolls. No, ignoring the troll means IGNORING the troll. Let him talk to himself. I thought these are self evident truths, to bad some people here don’t understand this. IGNORE. IGNORE. IGNORE.

MLBSF

Tom (fm Quinzee) says:
June 13th, 2013 at 10:07 am

And then there’s the bandwagon baseball fan with nothing to do since the Giants’ pitching staff went south for the summer.
======

True Tom,

And if you can believe it, everyone is mad at me on the Giants blog because I keep making honest comments about how god-awful the team is right now.

Renoshark

Baghdad Bob from Detroit reminds me of the old law expression:

If you have facts, pound the facts. If you have law, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Lots of table pounding and tantrums still going on I see. 😉

wcsma

#476 is exactly right. even the Kings were more than SJ could overcome.

2Teal4You

Reno. This is how I imagine he’s acting screaming about attacks constantly.

Keep attacking! Never let up! Only you attack trolls can provide the proper noxious atmosphere here!

Attack!

Beer League Rocks

Renoshark, Why do you keep scratching?

Renoshark

BLR:

Just boredom I guess. 😉

hondr

There is nothing boring about your blessed works, attack troll!

Attack!

ZEKE

Yotes to Seattle? Interesting, especially in light of their failed (for now) attempt to get the Sac Kings up there. You get that facility built and try to house both NHL and NBA in it. Smart use of resources. You get a facility in use for 100 days out of the year just between those two teams. Throw in concerts (and yes, indoor venue in Seattle makes a lot more sense than outdoor for concerts) and you’re gonna be pretty happy with the $$ part of the deal!

Agree that the Phoenix deal was dumb. If the Yotes go to Quebec, what will that do to the re-alignment? A re-re-alignment, and who would come West? Gee, not Deeee-troit? The Sharks are their daddy (thank you, Pedro).

hondr — Mr. Pollak had a set of rules on the right side of the blog at the top that have disappeared. Was it you? “Irregardless”, one of those rules was to ensure that people didn’t hammer the same point over and over and over again. I think you’ve crossed that line. I’m not telling you this to get you banned… I’m just letting you know that you’ve broken this rule many times over the last couple of weeks. Keep to the “hockey talk” and you should be alright.

I agree with some of what you say but other stuff I don’t. Simple as that. A holier-than-thou attitude doesn’t fly that well in here on either side of an argument. Try to keep it civil.

Phat Stat Phil

In contrast to all the “The Sharks couldn’t have hung in with either of these teams”, I actually think that the Sharks would have been better prepared defensively for that series than either Chicago or Boston were. Remember that when we faced Chicago during the regular season — with the exception of that first game of end-to-end action — they looked a lot slower. And all that was well before the trade deadline where we seemed to find another gear.

Look at the first Lucic goal and you’ve got Hjalmarsson overcommitting and leaving Lucic alone in the slot. Toews was out of position trying to fill in for the defensive gap and couldn’t stop Horton’s redirect to the slot. Lucic had embarrassing amounts of time and space to pick a spot and shoot. That’s two — arguably three big defensive lapses in a single play.

Look at the second one and you’ve got Kane failing to cover Lucic in the high slot. Watch Oduya and Bickell. Oduya’s so preoccupied with keeping Krejci to the outside that he can’t cover the backhand pass. Both of them are facing the net. When the pass goes to Lucic, Bickell wasn’t even in position to get a stick on the potential pass from Lucic to Horton on the right wing. Hjalmarsson, in the meantime, gets caught up high going for a hit that wasn’t there. Meanwhile, Hossa sneaks off for a change.

And that wasn’t all Chicago. Hossa beats two guys coming back up the boards and Horton gets caught puck watching. No one was even close to Saad on Chicago’s first goal.

That game, in my opinion, gave plenty of opportunities to analyze defensive lapses, the effects of puck watching, and the importance of positioning. In addition, there wasn’t a lot done in the neutral zone to stall the offensive team or complicate the breakout — and that’s a large part of what lends that perception of speed.

Put San Jose against Boston last night and I think Boston wins 2-1. I think we would have been better defensively than Chicago, but we would have been bitten again by our inability to score.

hondr

Sorry, but you attack trolls are the ones crossing the line. My posts are civil, you attack trolls just attack the other posters for their posts. It’s what you attack trolls do on this site, and it’s what wrecks the tone of this site.

My suggestion is that you attack trolls skip over the posts you don’t like. That would save you the extreme aggravation that these posts seem to cause you, and you wouldn’t be constantly attacking and disrupting this site with your attacking.

It’s really up to you attack trolls. If you cease attacking, the tone on this site will improve.